The Root

Now, this isn’t something one sees everyday—not even in New York City’s subway system, known for being the scene of every kind of oddity from pizza-lugging rats to impromptu performances by subway pole dancers.Read more...

Johnson Publishing Company, the historic African-American media powerhouse responsible for the start of Ebony and Jet magazines, has filed for bankruptcy.

A Fort Valley State University employee and adviser to the campus chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha who resigned after being accused of running an on-campus prostitution ring is among seven people who have been formally indicted on prostitution and pimping charges in the case.

If you treat someone like a criminal, he’s more likely to act like one later in life and commit a crime.

We talk about it. We joke about it. We resent it. We reinforce it. We rage about it.

Although one may not subscribe to the tenets of white supremacy, it is impossible to argue against the idea that white people are the undefeated, undisputed world champions of finding loopholes.Read more...

As cities and towns across America come to grips with the country’s mass incarceration problem, many jurisdictions are looking to digital surveillance, particularly ankle monitors, for solutions. But as a new report detailing Chicago’s use of electronic monitoring reveals, these technologies can be every bit as…Read more...

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.

Unfortunately for the world, Candace Owens is a thing.

Los Angeles plans to give recently deceased rapper Nipsey Hussle a farewell fit for a hometown king.Read more...

On a sunny Saturday morning in one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods (Fulton Market in the West Loop), passersby may have assumed the long line of mostly millennial-aged women winding out of one of the area’s newly refurbished warehouses were awaiting entrance to the latest brunch destination—or perhaps a sample…Read more...

Two activists dedicated to preserving the memories of American traitors have been arrested for a racist crime spree that included replacing an American flag with the “white man’s flag” and defacing a memorial recognizing the contributions of enslaved Africans.Read more...

By any and all metrics, columnist Meghan McCain is unremarkable in every way. In fact, once you remove nepotism from the equation, all you’re left with is temper tantrums and a striking resemblance to former U.S. Senator John McCain.Read more...

As the war of words on any number of hot-button issues—including immigration, the environment and equal pay—continue among United States lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, two black congresswomen are ensuring black mothers and children don’t get lost in shuffle.

Attorney General William “Big Fred Flintstone” Barr sat in the lukewarm seat on Tuesday and told lawmakers that he will be releasing a redacted AF version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s mixtape, “Why couldn’t I just say whether or not the president obstructed justice?” within a week.

The next time someone says that America needs to have a “conversation about race,” please remind them that, according to a new report from one of the most respected opinion researchers in the world, most white people in America think we talk about race too much. Most white people don’t think that being white has…Read more...

Recently in black America, I hosted a meeting for the VSB x Mahogany Books (a black bookstore in Washington, D.C.) Monthly Book Club where we discussed the book, She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Joan Morgan, author of the famed book When Chickenhoods Come Home to Roost. The book itself, …Read more...

In a move that flies in the face of more than 45 years of practice with no incident, the Washington State Department of Corrections has moved forward with a policy denying books to prisons under the guise of safety.

In its fifth year, Beautycon NYC descended on New York City’s new & improved Javits Center, sparkling and shining with beauty influencers, fans and panel members alike, ready with highlights poppin’ and IG photobooth-ready smiles.Read more...

Back in 1498, a few years after Christopher Columbus pillaged the Caribbean and before he set sail to Trinidad, Columbus landed in the District of Columbia. He asked where he could get a good half-smoke, and the people told him to go to Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street. There Columbus and his crew dined on foodstuffs…Read more...

Once you get past all the MySpace surveys and horrific fashion trends, the 2000s were actually pretty dope.Read more...

Joined by workers, survivors, and advocates from across the country, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and other congressional Democrats have introduced new, comprehensive legislation that tackles harassment in the workplace. The multifaceted “Be HEARD Act” is aimed at bolstering protections for workers, particularly those…Read more...

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) isn’t here to be liked, she’s here to call it as she sees it, and as such, she’s quickly moving up the “Auntie Maxine reclaiming my time” list of righteous women who don’t have the energy to placate the public.

With his directorial debut Get Out and its record-breaking successor Us, Jordan Peele has reinvigorated a horror genre that was short on ingenuity and diverse representation. But on the south side of Milwaukee, another low-budget debut threatens to dethrone the Academy-Award winning filmmaker.Read more...

Lately, it’s been an exciting time to be a fan of Pyer Moss. The 2018 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winner has been on a steady climb; last year saw the launch of collaborations with Reebok and Hennessy, while the growing brand also gave major hat tips to black-owned fashion pioneers FUBU and Cross Colours.Read more...

Turns out “Old Town Road,” the song that wasn’t country enough for Billboard’s Country charts, is plenty hot enough to be the country’s No. 1 song.Read more...

Taraji P. Henson has been doing the work, the work to end the stigma surrounding mental illness in the black community. The urgency of the issue brought her to tears while she was being honored for her efforts at Variety magazine’s Power of Women New York lunch.

The chief prosecutor of New York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is backing an effort to decriminalize prostitution, arrests for which, according to a state senator advocating for the change, disproportionately impact black women.

The mother of Raniya Wright, the 10-year-old South Carolina girl who died after getting into a fight at school, says she had long complained to the school about her child being bullied but that authorities did nothing to protect her.Read more...

He became famous as Nipsey Hussle, but he was beloved as simply “Ermias” among the Eritrean-American community Hussle proudly embraced as the child born Ermias Asghedom to Eritrean and African American parents.

In a move that can only be described as Trump on his Trump-shit again, President Trump, or “Great Leader” as he’s called in his white nationalist meetings at Mar-a-Lago, has overturned an Obama administration decision to allow Cuban players to join Major League Baseball teams without defecting.

In September of 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued the city of St. Louis and its police force after officers responded to peaceful demonstrations with excessive force. In what has come to be known as the “kettle,” more than 100 victims were arrested and testified that they were surrounded,…Read more...

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals, but these were our ten favorites today.

In his everyday life, Stephen Arnquist was a typical high school teacher. Since 2018, he has worked at Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas, whose student body is 99 percent non-white. Like many white men, he enjoyed activities such as balancing his sunglasses on the bill of his baseball cap, standing for the national…Read more...

Yeah, we know—usually when we’re discussing anything Kardashian-Jenner related, we’re giving it an “A” for “appropriation,” but a heartwarming little item crossed our desks today, and it only felt fair to give a rare nod of approval.

President Trump is removing U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles from his position, because he doesn’t have any idea what being president requires.

Days removed from affirming that it’s “more difficult today to come out as a conservative than it is to come out as gay,” the “nigga” we love to hate—provocateur du jour Candace Owens—will be bringing her world-famous, traveling minstrel show to the House Judiciary Committee next week during a hearing on hate crimes…Read more...

The great divider in chief just doesn’t get it or really doesn’t give a shit, but either way, his rhetoric is not without consequences.

At an event hosted by the Reverend Jesse Jackson last weekend, Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx held the line on her office’s decision to dismiss charges against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, whom Chicago Police say orchestrated a hate-crime hoax in January.Read more...

Race over to Joe’s New Balance Outlet, where right now, you can lace up a some New Balance Kaymins for men and women for just $35 using promo code KINJADEALS. These foam running shoes are lightweight, yet durable, so every step is properly supported. This deal will only last until through Wednesday though, so run,…Read more...

On Sunday, Showtime took us back to The Chi for another season of Lena Waithe’s sprawling, engrossing drama. The premiere, “Eruptions,” reveals how everyone’s faring in the wake of the big developments and admissions that made up the season-one finale. The series continues to offer a rare look at life on the South…Read more...

Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told The Root in an exclusive, hour-long interview at his home in Newark, N.J., that he unequivocally supports reparations for black people and that he is introducing a Senate version of the House bill on Monday that will form a commission to study reparations.Read more...

Earlier in life then we probably realize, black people are taught the value of compartmentalizing our personas. While we take comfort in Wobbling at weddings and selectively blurting out “Ain’t nobody coming to see you, Otis!” around our own, we have a propensity to abandon the seasoning rack while amongst our …Read more...

Three siblings, “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” and one major philanthropic event. Now entering its third year, the Trifecta Gala has been named the “Best Derby Party” by Kentucky’s Louisville Voice-Tribune—and by all appearances, also by the celebs and well-heeled guests who flock to the annual festivities.Read more...

The first sentence of this story should read: “A Virginia police officer is under fire after he was captured on video insinuating that he can’t wait to subject a group of black middle school children to the horrors of the criminal justice system.”Read more...

Donald Trump may not be a full-on, card-carrying member of white nationalism...

Kirstjen Nielsen, the woman with the worst spelled first name in the Trump administration, resigned as Homeland Security secretary on Sunday, evoking the famous tenant from the apostle Smokey, “You’ve got to be a stupid motherfucker to get fired on your day off.”

With direct access to your credit card, home address and Funyuns infatuation, hotels collect more personal data than just about everyone not named Mark Zuckerberg. As such, they possess a tremendous amount of power you would hope they would wield responsibly. But sadly, not only did Motel 6 miss the memo, but they …Read more...

Let’s just hop right to it: The trailer for Homecoming, the Beyoncé-directed documentary that takes us through her historic Coachella performance, dropped Monday morning, and it promises to be more than just a smattering of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

I plan on keeping this blog about as short as R. Kelly’s performance this past weekend.